Why do you smoke?

I have someone close to me thats trying to kick the habit himself. He's been on the patch, chantix ect ect.. It must be hard once you started on an early age as he did. It just becomes a habit, and ritual much like getting a cup of coffee in the morning. Its good that you've managed to cut down using crocheting. some people replace the habit with gum and other things to preoccupy with mild success. Anthing that can help I guess.

I think, if you want to truly understand this addiction, you should dive deeply into the research of what it does to your brain -- neurotransmitters etc.

Those who were not raised in a household of smokers, were not possibly carried in a womb of a mother who smoked, and who did not begin smoking at an early age while the brain is still developing, cannot possibly imagine the struggle one goes through when they attempt to quit, or do quit.

Can it be done? Of course it can. People do it every day. Do they remain the same person they are when they were smoking? Absolutely not.

Many will turn to addictions of another nature. Whether that be food, alcohol, shopping, gambling, exercise, you name it -- they're going to get that boost of dopamine from somewhere.

"It's hard" ... does not begin to cover it. If, for just a minute, you can imagine what it would feel like to *lose who you are* and turn into some other person -- whom you may or may not like very much -- then you may be able to begin to understand.

Smokers are self-medicating. It has side effects, just like every other drug. And with every drug, each individual must weigh the pros & cons. I can assure you there is an almost daily weighing in the mind of every smoker. And on that day that you see them outside, in that moment, they've decided that the benefit outweighs the risk. Perhaps someday, something will change their minds. But one thing is for sure: no one is going to change their minds FOR them.

It may not make one bit of sense to you -- and if that's the case, count yourself blessed. That means you have not had experience with this particular struggle. And your body is thankful. :)

I currently work with a pulmonology and critical care physician who smokes. He says the stress of running the ICU makes it next to impossible for him to quit. When I was still a floor RN, I worked with an RT that had lung cancer and he was still smoking. My own husband had stopped smoking for 17 years but picked it back up when he opened his own pharmacy 5 years ago I can't get him to stop either.

I have never smoked but my dad did, for 20 years. He passed away from prostate cancer. I am surprised it wasn't lung cancer. He would always make bets with us that he would quit but he never fully did. Of course it is a hard habit to break. You become addicted and when the stresses of life hit you, you want something to help relieve it. I sympathize with you smokers but I hope one day you will be able to stop because the end result, usually isn't good.

We are nurses so don't put this in a lack of awareness sort of paradigm. We do know it will kill us. Worse than that it will decrease our quality of life. However, I think for some of us nursing breeds a sort of fatalism and we all know we are gonna die. Smoking takes about 10 years off a lifespan so if I miss the dementia and diaper years I'd be OK with that